40

It was after midnight when (he gathering broke up.
Vcsovshchikov and the redhead were the first to leave,
and this, too, displeased the mother.

"What a hurry they're in!" she (bought as .she bowed
to them stiffly.

"Will you see me home, Nakhodka?'* asked Nata-
sha.

"Indeed I will," answered the khokhoL

"Your stockings are a bit thin for this kind of weather/'
said the mother to Natasha as the girl was putting on
her things in the kitchen. "Would let me knit you a pair
of woollen ones?'*

"Thank you, Pelagea Nilovna, but woollen ones itch,"
answered Natasha with a laugh.

"I'll knit you the kind that don't itch," said the
mother.

Natasha looked at her through narrowed lids, and her
steady gaze made the older woman uneasy.

"You must excuse my foolishness* It was from my heart
I said it," she added quietly.

"What a darling you are!" replied Natasha just as
quietly, pressing her hand impulsively.

"Good night, ncnko" said the khokhol, glancing into
her eyes as he ducked through the door in the wake of
Natasha.

The mother looked at her son, He stood in the doorway
smiling.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked uneasily.

"Nothing special. Just feeling good,"

"I may be old and stupid, but even so I can tell good
from bad," she answered with some asperity.

"I'm glad of that," he said. "But hadn't you better be
getting to bed?"

"In a minute."

She fussed about the table clearing away the tea things,
very much pleased—so pleased, in fact* that she broke
out in a perspiration. She was glad that everything had
so pleasant and h&d ended so peacefully.